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Topic: The Hills and Outdoors thread (Read 14336 times)

A wee thread for your outdoor pursuits.routes up local and further afield hills and mountains, low level walks,mountain bike trails,wild camping,ski reports.Anything else outdoorsy that others may want to mention/recommend.

My thing is hill walking mainly,with a bit of skiing now and again.Ill start things off with a few routes of hills of varying difficulty, starting with the toughest,from the South Cairngorms

1) Bheinn A Ghlo,Carn A Chlamain,Beinn Dearg,Carn an Fhidlier,An Sgarsoch

The approach route i took for these hills can also be done as a low level walk,or mountain bike route without doing the hills. Starts at the Linn of Dee,5 miles beyond Braemar,and carries on through to Blair Atholl at the far end.Takes you through some of the furthest from civilisation landscape in the UK.

My plan was to bike and walk in on an evening, to just beyond the Falls of Tarf (at the side of the river Tilt),set up camp and do the west side Munroes the next day,and then Beinn A Ghlo's 3 munroes on day 2, and then back out

Parked at the Linn of Dee,and followed a good low level track to white bridge,where it splits in 2.Took the route South over the bridge,and past Bynack lodge,all the way to the falls of Tarf. I should point out that,cycling absolutely kills me. I never normally cycle anywhere, except a couple times a year to get to some hills.Any gradient at all and I need to come off and push.This route was pretty reasonable all the way to around Loch Tilt

Track near Bynack to give an idea of terrain.Easy biking /walking,great sense of space around here

Track near the Falls of Tarf.Pushed the bike at this stage,though a regular M/biker would breeze it.Easy enough walking.

I set up camp at the start of a track at,OS - 972,775 (Braemar/Blair Atholl map),took about 2 hrs to reach here,appx 2/3 bike,1/3 hike. In the morning,followed the track that heads towards a sheiling/old building on the edge of the Tarf water,and headed up An Sgarsoch first(initially a bit rough),then over to nearby Carn an Fhidlhier.From there over to Beinn Dearg,round by the west side of Loch Mairc,and up Carn A Chlamain,before heading for the track on Braigh choire na Conlaich back to the tent. A long summer day needed

Day 2 was the Beinn A Ghlo route, starting from the tent,down Glen Tilt to the bridge at Marble Lodge.From there,make way up Carn Liath,the first Munro,along to Braigh Coire Chruinn bhalgain,the second,and then to Carn nan Gabhar.From there head down to Meall A Mhuirich, looking out for a stalkers path to help you down to Glen Tilt and aiming for the bridge across the Tilt river,around 3km above Forest lodge

.An Sgorsach and Carn an Fhidhlier can be done seperately by following the same route initially,but turning up the track at the Geldie burn,past Geldie Lodge,where a path leads you on to Carn an Fhidhlier,over to An Agarsoch,and back to the Geldie Burn/Linn of Dee. If not doing An Sgarsoch/Carn an Fhidhlier,the other hills are best planned from the Bridge of Atholl side. Glen Tilt,a very attractive glen

2) Geallaig hill - 743m

An easier hill,just past Ballater on the road to Braemar.The tourist route for this one is a rather drab track from the north side,but can be done from the South via this route. Park at the first car park on the right,just after the Coilecreich Inn.walk west along the road until you come out from the trees.There is a wooden gate on your right hand side.Go over that,and follow the grassy track up hill,which becomes more of a vehicle track further up.About two thirds of the way up the track seems to veer away from the summit,but a path appears,and takes you on to the top. Good views of Lochnagar and Upper Deeside. 1 or 2 hrs up and the same down depending on fitness

3) Millstone hill - 408m

And a good starter hill on the south side of Bennachie.Parked at the Donview visitor centre near Blairdaff with good paths all the way.Took about an hour up,hour doon with a couple of 7 year olds.Theres also a link path from the summit over to the South top of Bennachie.

Nice Aberdeenshire landscapes en route,and some nice spots along the river Don nearby,...which is nice

EDIT - A link to a map which you can zoom in for more detail.Sometimes shows paths not seen on an OS map

Walked up to and into The Vat, a really fantastic place. We decided to head on up the waterfall and walk up the gorge.

The walk up the gorge is pretty hard going with a 6yr old in tow, clambering over boulders, jumping over the burn and back again, climbing over fallen tree's and clambering over more boulders. You seem to walk round a corner and think you must be near the end, only to be met by more fallen tree's, piles of rock and loads of "Dubs". You do eventually make it out though and onto an old Land Rover track. Follow this down to the right and on to the road, cross the road and follow the path alongside Loch Kinnord until you reach the path back that takes you back to the visitor centre. All in about 3.5 miles. A bit futher than the 2 miles i told a couple young ladies who decided they would do the gorge too. In their trainers !!!

Heres a fine wee hill for them(or anyone else)in the next few months, more so when theres a bit of snow on the higher tops.Near Ballater, called Craig of Prony,if youre up that way.Easy hill,great views

Take the Ballater bypass on the way to Braemar.Just after you come out of the bypass back onto the A93,there is a turn off to Lary on the Rhs shown below

Head up that road a couple of hundred yards and park beside the first building on the lhs,as per below photo.Craig of Prony is the hill ahead on the right.Walk back the way to the first gate,and make your way up from there.Only around 250m of ascent but great views of upper deeside/Lochnagar,as said,even better in snow

Main reason for posting was bird identification.Spotted this hawk doing the above Munroes. 2 of them came screeching at me from a steep bit of hill.Then another couple of pairs further on.Never seen this type of hawk before.Very similar to a sparrow hawk or Kestrel but definitely smaller,with a bluey green tinge on its top side.Mate said it might be a Merlin which Ive never heard of

Been doing dribs and drabs of the Speyside way the last couple of months,just finished on sunday.A pleasant journey rather than spectacular.More scenic at the top end near Ballindalloch,our start point.Good paths/tracks all the way,so can be cycled if preferred.

EDIT - We did the section from Grantown to Ballindalloch yesterday(30/12/2016),wouldnt recommend this section for a mountin bike unless extremely fit.Barely saw the river Spey on this bit,though a pleasant enough walk.Hilliest section weve done

Cycled from Guilford to the New Forest on Sunday, nice 112km ride on a autumns foggy morning. The New Forest is mental, deer, horses, cows, sheep and pigs all roam free, made it pretty interesting when it started to get dark. Decided that we should head into a pub and wait for a cab. The colours on the trees were amazing though and a few awesome pubs along the way. Just wish we could have stopped at them all!

Only downer having to get the Overground all the way home instead of cycling as my lights had died. Added an hour onto my journey

The freezing recent weather might have been a pain to some,but its brought some of the best hill conditions I can remember.Superb visibility,sunny skies and lots of inversions as below on Tayside last w/e.A first for myself

Couple of new routes

Invervar 4 - A loop of 4 relatively easy Munros(Carn Gorm,Meall Garbh,Carn Mairg,Meall nan Aighean) starting from Invervar car park.Take the A9 as far as the turn off for Aberfeldy.From Aberfeldy head for Ivervar via Fortingall. On arriving at Invervar look out for a phone box on the lhs,where there is a free car park just below it.

Along the road(west) is a gate with a sign pointing you up the first hill(Carn Gorm).A few green and orange markers guide you up though the forestry,and another sign points you onto the start of the Carn Gorm ridge,where its pretty obvious where to go from there.Options once you reach the summit are go back down the same way if 1 is enough,or carry on along the ridge East,where the other 3 hills roll out beyond,and return back to the car park Some great views to Glencoe,Ben Nevis.The hills around here and the Trossachs are some of the best for inversions

Cluanie 4 - A notch or 2 above the Invervar 4, for steepness and exposure.This route includes Am Bathach(Corbett),Ciste Dubh,Aonach Mheadhoin,and Sgurr A Bhealach Dheirg(Munros).Route starts at the Cluanie Inn car park on the road from Invermoriston to Glen Sheil.Am Bathach starts almost immediately from the car park to the right,and heads quickly,steeply up.A few ups and downs to the summit at the far end.Its a good introduction to the area and can be done as a single by dropping down at the far end, to the dip(Bealach a Choinich on the OSmap) between Am Bathach and Ciste Dubh,and turning right to join a track between Am Bathach and A Chralaig(an Caorann Mor),and back to the car park. If carrying on,head from the dip,up to Ciste Dubh,return back down to the dip,then up to Sgurr an Fhuarail,over to Aonach Mheadhoin(some steep and exposed bits en route),across to Sgurr a Bhealach Dheirg and return to the car park via Meall a Charra,the East edge of the forestry below,cross the burn and follow the road back to the car park. Great days walking in prime Scottish hill country

Went out to Faversham a couple of weekends back. No hills, in fact it's pretty flat as hell out towards the estuary and exposed to the wind but a nice walk with one of the best pubs i've been to at the half way point. One of the most haunted pubs too apparently, well worth a visit if you're ever down in Kent. Off the beaten track but definitely rewards you with fine ale and food!

Well its outdoors Havnt seen much of Kent,but Sussex has a really nice rolling landscape.Only things is the amount of folk everywhere

The Keiloch car park between Ballater and Braemar is a great place to take off from for a wide variety of walks,and cycling for that matter,from easy riverside routes to day long munro trips.Will write up a few routes from here when more time

Was out on the Hills this morning with my Dog, a bastard of an alsatian attacked her! Two boots to the head sorted the cunt out! But the owner was a bitch, no apology or a thing! I ripped her a new ersehole.

Was out on the Hills this morning with my Dog, a bastard of an alsatian attacked her! Two boots to the head sorted the cunt out! But the owner was a bitch, no apology or a thing! I ripped her a new ersehole.

Was out on the Hills this morning with my Dog, a bastard of an alsatian attacked her! Two boots to the head sorted the cunt out! But the owner was a bitch, no apology or a thing! I ripped her a new ersehole.

Nae ees Malaga.Should have had the hoor put down for that(and the dog )

A friend of mine stays out near Sauchen and 'had' a wee dog,nae sure what breed,but similar in size to a small staffy.It broke out the garden and chased one of the neighbouring farmers sheep. The farmer was up quick as you like,took the dog away and shot it,and got the woman to stump up £500 for scaring the sheep which was in lamb.Am assuming he was within his rights to do so before he did that. So,worth checking out what the law is over there for that sort of thing.Canna have attacks like that?

Nae ees Malaga.Should have had the hoor put down for that(and the dog )

A friend of mine stays out near Sauchen and 'had' a wee dog,nae sure what breed,but similar in size to a small staffy.It broke out the garden and chased one of the neighbouring farmers sheep. The farmer was up quick as you like,took the dog away and shot it,and got the woman to stump up £500 for scaring the sheep which was in lamb.Am assuming he was within his rights to do so before he did that. So,worth checking out what the law is over there for that sort of thing.Canna have attacks like that?

Certain sizes and breeds are meant to be in muzzles when out and to have their paperwork with them, the police can shoot them onsite if they want

Nae ees Malaga.Should have had the hoor put down for that(and the dog )

A friend of mine stays out near Sauchen and 'had' a wee dog,nae sure what breed,but similar in size to a small staffy.It broke out the garden and chased one of the neighbouring farmers sheep. The farmer was up quick as you like,took the dog away and shot it,and got the woman to stump up £500 for scaring the sheep which was in lamb.Am assuming he was within his rights to do so before he did that. So,worth checking out what the law is over there for that sort of thing.Canna have attacks like that?

He was indeed well within his rights, although a bit of a cunt nevertheless it seems. In saying that, there are a lot of twats who can't look after their animals and think it's acceptable for them to be off leads running through fields with their owners not even remotely in control. They can cause some amount of hassle with livestock, and endanger themselves in the process. Difficult like as I suspect they don't realise they are being ignorant as fuck. Onywye, hope yer dog isn't too affected by it.

Just back from the Arrochar Alps.Headed down about 8 am yesterday,with the intention of an easy amble up 1 munro(Ben Vorlich) on day one,and then do the 3 nearby ones the next day,and then back up the road

Set off from Inveruglas around 11am and got down from Ben Vorlich summit around 2.15pm."That wasnt as bad as I thought" I said to myself.The next munro was just across the glen,and a similar size to the one I had just done.Was sure i could nip up,get to the summit for around sunset,get back down most of the mountain with the remaining light,and if need be,use the head torch for the remaining walk back to the car Seemed like a plan,and headed across the glen,and joined the track going up to the next hill(Ben Vane). Thought it was time for some food,since I hadnt yet had a break because it had been too cold to hang around for long.Sat down behind a rock for late lunch. Got going again,and realised the sun was setting already,and I was only 2/3 of the way up!!

Had a wee think about whether to carry on,as the wind was quite strong now too,but opted to go on.Picked up the pace,got to a point further up the hill,and checked the time.I was at about the same length of time as Id taken to reach the last summit,a similar sized hill,and thought "Canna be far fae the summit now,surely?". Got to the top of a brow,and then this extra lump appeared...

"Gosh,thats unfortunate isnt it?",I chuckled ....And there was another smaller one beyond that

Got to the summit,but didnt hang around and started on my way back down.There was still enough light to get down past the rocky and icy upper 1/3 of the hill.The next third(head torch on) was a wet grassy slope,in between the 2 hills which were acting as a wind funnel.When I wasnt struggling to stay on my feet,I was on my arse 3 times because of the surface. Back at the car at 6.30pm

Next day though,things were looking good.A bright sunny,frosty start,and theyd said most areas would be fine all day.Intention was to do Beinn Ime,over to Beinn Narnain,and hopefully catch a romantic sunset on the Cobbler to finish off the day. Got going up Beinn Ime,a steep hill.Got to about half way up, and the clag(mist) came down.Got to the summit,and the snow started to come down,and didnt look like stopping soon.Hung around for half an hour,but decided to abort mission,along with a few others at the summit.So much for the forecast